The merchandising at the beginning is a very amusing subplot! I was wondering - is it actual real life B5 merchandising? Ivanova's comment on the "last best hope for a quick buck" amuses me as well.

I must confess, the "moment of perfect beauty" did not impress me much - I would have expected something more than the singing of monks, which seems too normal to be sublime. I guess beauty is in the ear of the listener in this case.

I like the glimpses we get of Vir's character and dilemma and of the relationship between him and Mollari. There are always those moments that make us *like* Londo, aren't there?! Also, his complaint about the Mollari doll is really funny - it's belittling him because the "attributes" are missing! Ivanova's word play with a barely cut off (oops, pun unintentional but too good to remove!) "cast-ration" is another amusing bit of dialogue. I looked up the author of the episode and am not surprised to see that it's Peter David. He's a well-known name, having written some good stuff for Star Trek as well.

I like it when some of the intro lines get used in episodes - this time, "all alone in the night". To which experience of being left alone in space is Sheridan referring? I don't recall offhand. Delenn's variation "all alone in a crowd" is poignant. It's interesting to see her working against Sheridan at first in this episode, knowing how their relationship will develop later on.

The items in the gift shop were made up specially for the episode and later sold at cost to the cast/crew. JMS got the Londo and G'Kar dolls and they were later part if his 'yard sale'.

I **loved** the moment of perfect beauty! Not just the chant, the lighting and the way the whole scene combined. I think it may have helped that the first time I saw it, I was pretty tense myself and when the music/chant started I just took a deep breath and let it all go.

Jan

__________________
"You know, I used to think that life was terribly unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair? If all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." ~~Marcus Cole

I **loved** the moment of perfect beauty! Not just the chant, the lighting and the way the whole scene combined. I think it may have helped that the first time I saw it, I was pretty tense myself and when the music/chant started I just took a deep breath and let it all go.

Jan

I loved it too, as you say, for the whole scene, lighting, and the setup.

I was pretty surprised that there wasn't a gift shop with tourist kitsch like that on Babylon 5, from the get go. And "demeaning"? Okay, yeah, it's kitsch, but I guess I'm too jaded with the commercialism of our day to see such a strong reaction to this idea as believable from our command staff. And a gift shop, even if it was government run like those at national parks and such, would be assigned to the supervision of much more junior staff than Ivanova. The revenue it generates would probably be a drop in the bucket of overall station revenues, anyway.

I must confess, the "moment of perfect beauty" did not impress me much - I would have expected something more than the singing of monks, which seems too normal to be sublime. I guess beauty is in the ear of the listener in this case.

I like to think that these monks were pak'ma'ra, if only based on Vir's touching story in Sleeping In Light about Londo and him hearing them sing with a voice full of sadness, hope, wonder and a terrible sense of loss. The pieces fit.

I must confess, the "moment of perfect beauty" did not impress me much - I would have expected something more than the singing of monks, which seems too normal to be sublime. I guess beauty is in the ear of the listener in this case.

I like to think that these monks were pak'ma'ra, if only based on Vir's touching story in Sleeping In Light about Londo and him hearing them sing with a voice full of sadness, hope, wonder and a terrible sense of loss. The pieces fit.

I never put those two together, but sounds like that could be true!

__________________
Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

I must confess, the "moment of perfect beauty" did not impress me much - I would have expected something more than the singing of monks, which seems too normal to be sublime. I guess beauty is in the ear of the listener in this case.

I like to think that these monks were pak'ma'ra, if only based on Vir's touching story in Sleeping In Light about Londo and him hearing them sing with a voice full of sadness, hope, wonder and a terrible sense of loss. The pieces fit.

YES!!! Finally someone else who thinks that it was the pak'ma'ra!! My husband and I have argued about that a bit. My impression was that they were the pak'ma'ra, and it was the simplicity and the contrast between the low crawl space they were in and the soaring of their voices. Truly perfect beauty!

I must confess, the "moment of perfect beauty" did not impress me much - I would have expected something more than the singing of monks, which seems too normal to be sublime. I guess beauty is in the ear of the listener in this case.

I like to think that these monks were pak'ma'ra, if only based on Vir's touching story in Sleeping In Light about Londo and him hearing them sing with a voice full of sadness, hope, wonder and a terrible sense of loss. The pieces fit.

YES!!! Finally someone else who thinks that it was the pak'ma'ra!! My husband and I have argued about that a bit. My impression was that they were the pak'ma'ra, and it was the simplicity and the contrast between the low crawl space they were in and the soaring of their voices. Truly perfect beauty!

So...this isn't an established fact? Damn, I thought this was a foregone conclusion. Now I have to face the possibility it's a silly Fanboi interpretation?

__________________
One Day I hope to be the man my Cat thinks I am

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain

So...this isn't an established fact? Damn, I thought this was a foregone conclusion. Now I have to face the possibility it's a silly Fanboi interpretation?

It's not anything verified via JMS or the script, no. But I've always felt is was the pak'ma'ra, too. Why they were doing a Gregorian chant is anybody's guess, not to mention why they did it regularly enough that we heard them singing it again in "Passing through Gethsemane".

Jan

__________________
"You know, I used to think that life was terribly unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair? If all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." ~~Marcus Cole